16th Meeting of the Council of Representatives of South Centre

[11 March 2015]

Statement made by India

Distinguished Chairman, H.E. President Benjamin Mkapa,

Convener of the Council of Representatives Ambassador Dr Abdul Minty,

Executive Director Mr. Martin Khor,

1. We thank the Executive Director Mr. Martin Khor for a focused and detailed presentation on activities of the South Centre. At the outset, India places on record its deep appreciation to the Executive Director and his able team for their valuable contribution in successful running of the organization.

2. We also thank the Convener Ambassador Dr. Abdul Minty for successfully steering the work of the Council of Representative during the last year, and also providing necessary guidance and support in effective functioning of the South Centre.

3. Global South is at a crucial place of its development curve.  The global financial crisis of the second half of the last decade continues to loom large on expectations of rapid growth by developing countries.  The attempts of the North to overcome their own internal challenges, particularly in Europe,are also adding to the pressure on developing countries’ efforts to improve or ameliorate their condition.  These new challenges faced by the developed are finding strong reflection in multilateral institutions, particularly in the United Nations, and other international financial and trade organizations, by way of a lowered commitment to their support to developing countries.

4. South Centre, as the only inter-governmental think tank of the South, has been able to provide necessary cerebral faculty for developing countries in addressing the global economic challenges.  These global economic challenges are manifesting in our day-to-day work, particularly in the UN fora. This illustrates the need for further strengthening South Centre.

5. The South Centre’s varied activities during the year 2014, as contained in the report presented today, as well as during the presentation of the Executive Director, gives us the scope of work carried out in the South Centre.  The South Centre’s consistent support to Permanent Missions based in Geneva and even other places in the context of the multilateral negotiations has been extremely valuable.  Moreover, the participation of Centre’s representatives directly in the deliberations of the multilateral fora has added to our collective efforts to articulate developing countries’ points of view. The research and analysis provided by the South Centre, apart from timely inputs on our negotiating stands, proves to be of immense value to all of us in Geneva.

6. New and emerging areas are constantly getting added to the negotiations’ basket.  This year, as we embark on concluding a number of agreements, the need for understanding the cross-cutting impact of different areas, be it in Post-2015 Development Agenda, Sustainable Development or during COP 21 on Climate Change. We need to remain vigilant and coordinate effectively to handle them effectively.  We are happy to note that South Centre is bracing well to provide necessary support on a range of agreements to be concluded this year.  We also commend South Centre for its constant efforts to upgrade its own expertise by effectively providing research and analysis in new areas, be it follow-up to World Summit for Information Society (WSIS) and related internet governance issues, apart from its strong foray in areas such as climate change, health, IPRs, investment treaties and sustainable development.

7. India is confident that the South Centre will continue to provide cerebral faculty to the developing countries in their efforts to deal with multi-dimensional nature of issues covered under the UN fora, both in Geneva as well as in New York.

8. India remains committed to continue its support to the South Centre.  We are happy to increase our annual contribution to US$ 300,000 since last year.  We are also happy to note that the financial position of the South Centre is stable, and also note that it requires more financial assistance to be able to function more effectively in the years to come.

9. We once again thank the Executive Director and his team for their valuable contribution.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

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